In producing a positive or negative electrode plate to be used in secondary batteries, there is conventionally adopted a method in which a coating material containing binder and electrode active material is applied to a metal foil and then dried (for example, see Patent Document 1). To shorten the total time needed for all steps of producing such electrode plate, it is desired to reduce the time needed for a drying step. However, when drying is performed at higher temperatures than in conventional methods, the binder contained in the coating material is apt to concentrate close to the surface of the coating material during drying. Accordingly, some portions may have low bonding strength between the base sheet and the coating material by the binder.
On the other hand, in another proposed technique, a coating material containing binder is first applied but not dried, and then a remaining material is applied thereto for recoating. It is found that this technique enables the binder to appropriately function even after dried at relatively high temperatures. As a device for applying a coating material containing binder, that is, a coating device for a first layer, a coating device including a rod-like coating member (a coating rod) is suitably used. The coating device provided with such a coating rod may include, e.g., a rod coater (only a rod, a rod provided with a wound wire, a rod formed with a groove or grooves, etc.) and a gravure coater. In those coating devices, usually, a coating rod is rotated while a part of the rod in its circumferential direction is being dipped in coating material, and the other part than the dipped part is brought into contact with a base sheet.
In producing an electrode plate, conventionally, coating is conducted, not over the entire surface of a metal foil, so that uncoated sections are left in end portions in its width direction. The uncoated sections left will be used as current collecting portions in a battery. The coating device is therefore configured to restrict adhesion so that the coating material does not adhere or stick to portions to be formed as the uncoated sections of the base sheet. For instance, outside portions other than a coating range of a coating rod would be covered with masking tapes to restrict a coating width. With this configuration, the ranges of the coating rod covered with the masking tapes do not contact with the base sheet.